Thursday, January 22, 2009

The Academy just released the nominations for the Oscars. There are some surprises, but nothing too crazy. Here are my predictions and who I think should win, and my reasons behind them:

BEST PICTURE:

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Frost/Nixon

Milk

The Reader

Slumdog Millionaire

I think that Benjamin Button and Slumdog are both worthy of winning Best Picture. But, due to the momentum its been gathering after the Golden Globes, I think that Slumdog will win Best Picture, although I wish that WALL-E would have gotten its nomination for Best Picture.

ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE:

Richard Jenkins-The Visitor

Frank Langella-Frost/Nixon

Brad Pitt-The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Sean Penn-Milk

Mickey Rourke-The Wrestler

I think that Brad Pitt should definitely win this award. He was a very good actor in Benjamin Button. But, unfortunately, Sean Penn will win for Milk. Don't get me wrong, he was great in Milk, but, for political reasons, he'll beat Brad Pitt who was a better actor, in my opinion.

ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE:

Anne Hathaway-Rachel Getting Married

Angelina Jolie-Changeling

Melissa Leo-Frozen River

Meryl Streep-Doubt

Kate Winslet-The Reader

I think that Kate Winslet will win this award--and I am so glad that she was not nominated for Revolutionary Road which looks like the most boring and plotless piece of Oscar-fodder I have ever seen.

SUPPORTING ACTOR

Josh Brolin-Milk

Robert Downey Jr.-Tropic Thunder

Philip Seymour Hoffman-Doubt

Heath Ledger-The Dark Knight

Michael Shannon-Revolutionary Road

It's a tie for me between Robert Downey and Heath Ledger for best supporting actor. Downey was really, really funny and witty, and was frankly a good actor (also it would be ironic if he won, since in Tropic Thunder his character is supposed to be an award winner). Heath Ledger will definitely win. Since he is dead, and since he deserves it. Yes, Robert Downey Jr. was amazing and is just as deserving, but Ledger's portrayal of the Joker was so creepy, funny and perfect that he will definitely get this award.

SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Amy Adams-Doubt

Penelope Cruz-Vicky Cristina Barcelona

Viola Davis-Doubt

Taraji P. Henson-The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Marisa Tomei-The Wrestler

I think that Amy Adams will win for her role in Doubt. But I think that Eve from WALL-E should win, but she wasn't nominated.

DIRECTOR

David Fincher-The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Ron Howard-Frost/Nixon

Gus Van Sant-Milk

Stephen Daldry-The Reader

Danny Boyle-Slumdog Millionaire

I think that David Fincher should and will win for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. The film was just phenomenal, mostly due to the direction given by Fincher.

FOREIGN FILM

The Baader Meinhof Complex-Germany

The Class-France

Departures-Japan

Revanche-Austria

Waltz With Bashir-Israel

Waltz With Bashir should and will win for the foreign film category.

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

Eric Roth and Robin Swicord-The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

John Patrick Shanley-Doubt

Peter Morgan-Frost/Nixon

David Hare-The Reader

Simon Beaufoy-Slumdog Millionaire

This one is a tie for me between Slumdog and Benjamin Button. I'd be happy if either movie won, since they were both great films with great stories. But since I have to predict the winner, I'll say Slumdog due, once again, to its momentum from the Golden Globes.

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

Courtney Hunt-Frozen River

Mike Leigh-Happy-Go-Lucky

Martin McDonagh-In Bruges

Dustin Lance Black-Milk

Andrew Stanton, Jim Reardon and Pete Docter-WALL-E

WALL-E!! It was the best movie of last year. It didn't get nominated for Best Picture, so it had better win this category. You cannot deny that WALL-E's story is one of romance, action, sci-fi, adventure, and a truly touching connection between two things that we didn't think could love. The tie-in with Hello, Dolly! is brilliant, the character of WALL-E is flawless, especially having the eyes be the only "emotional indicator". WALL-E hands-down had the best screenplay of last year. It should, and will, and had better win the best original screenplay.

ANIMATED FEATURE FILM

Bolt

Kung Fu Panda

WALL-E

Look at my response to the previous category. Do I need to repeat myself? Nope. GO WALL-E!

ART DIRECTION

Changeling

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

The Dark Knight

The Duchess

Revolutionary Road

I want Benjamin Button to win this one as well; I can't stress enough how much I loved this movie. Its style. Its subtly. Its use of time periods and its character development. Alas, I think that they will give this one to The Dark Knight, which also had good art direction.

CINEMATOGRAPHY

Changeling

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

The Dark Knight

The Reader

Slumdog Millionaire

Benjamin Button will win this award, for good reason. There were some points in the movie where I thought, "This cinematographer really knows what he is doing". The shots were just perfectly lined up. Button should and will win this one.

SOUND MIXING

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

The Dark Knight

Slumdog Millionaire

WALL-E

Wanted

WALL-E! It had the best sound mixing. It should win, but, unfortunately, Hollywood doesn't yet take animated movies seriously. Hence the lack of a Best Picture nom for WALL-E. So, sadly, The Dark Knight is gonna take this one for the fancy BatPod sounds.

SOUND EDITING

The Dark Knight

Iron Man

Slumdog Millionaire

WALL-E

Wanted

See my reply to the last category. I think WALL-E should win, but The Dark Knight will.

ORIGINAL SCORE

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button-Alexandre Desplat

Defiance-James Newton Howard

Milk-Danny Elfman

Slumdog Millionaire-A.R. Rahman

WALL-E-Thomas Newman

I think that Benjamin Button and WALL-E both had equally great scores. The score for Button captured the changes in time and the characters' emotions perfectly. WALL-E's score also portrayed the loneliness, longing for love, and space travel perfectly. But, since Hollywood doesn't think that animated movies are worthy of "real" awards, I think that Button will win.

ORIGINAL SONG

Down to Earth from WALL-E-Peter Gabriel and Thomas Newman

Jai Ho from Slumdog Millionaire-A.R. Rahman and Gulzar

O Saya from Slumdog Millionaire-A.R. Rahman and Maya Arulpragasam

I want WALL-E to win as many awards as it can, as you may have noticed. So, I think that WALL-E should win this one, but Slumdog will.

COSTUME

Australia

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

The Duchess

Milk

Revolutionary Road

Benjamin Button should and will win this one. The costumes helped the audience to really transport themselves to that specific time period.

FILM EDITING

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

The Dark Knight

Frost/Nixon

Milk

Slumdog Millionaire

The Dark Knight will win this one. Although it is a tough call between that and Button.

MAKE-UP

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

The Dark Knight

Hellboy II: The Golden Army

I would say that Button should win this one, but most of that was digital, so I think that Hellboy II should get it. Hellboy's make-up is awesome and realistic. Plus Guillermo Del Toro is really cool.

ANIMATED SHORT FILM

La Maison en Petits Cubes

Lavatory — Lovestory

Oktapodi

Presto

This Way Up

Definitely Presto. It was witty, relatable, fantastic and superbly animated. It was very creatively stylized and had a hilarious premise. Presto will, thankfully, win this one.

VISUAL EFFECTS

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

The Dark Knight

Iron Man

This is a very tough one to call. I thought that the special effects in each of these movies was awesome. They are all deserving and all have the same chance at winning this one. I think that all of them should win it, but I think that Iron Man will win it. It has to win at least one award, right?

So, those are my predictions for the 81st Academy Awards. (You'll notice that I cut about 3 categories since I hadn't seen any of the films in them). As you can tell, I loved WALL-E, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Slumdog Millionaire, and The Dark Knight. Button got the most nominations at 13! Yay! Although I am very dissappointed that WALL-E didn't get a Best Picture nomination, and that it won't win big since it isn't considered to be a "real movie" when it is better thanevery other movie out there this year. Oh well. I guess only the actual results will let us know...

Wednesday, January 21, 2009

Briefly: During a presentation put on by Sony at CES, they showed the capabilities and the new features of Blu-ray players, and Pixar got a moment to speak. Lasseter discussed Disney Digital 3D and the Blu-ray format. But, even more exciting than that, he showed us an extended clip from Pixar's upcoming feature Up. Here it is:

It is directed by Pete Docter and is set for release on May 29, 2009. See the trailer here.

Update: Oh no! The video has been removed! Probably due to legal issues... Oh well. Still feel free to follow the link above to watch the trailer.

Monday, January 19, 2009

It was over 80 years ago that A.A. Milne wrote The House at Pooh Corner, his second book based upon a lovable bear (which, in turn, was based on his son's stuffed bear). It was the two original books written by A.A. Milne and illustrated by E.H. Shepard that created the characters we know most commonly today as Disney's. But the only true spirit of Pooh and his friends are found in the original, wonderful books from the 1920s.

Now there will be another Pooh book. No not a cartoon-y Disney commissioned sequel, but one authorized by Milne and Shepard's estates; it is the first authorized sequel that will continue the original storyline created by Milne. It is tentatively titled Return to the Hundred Acre Wood and will be written by David Benedictus (who has converted the Pooh books to audio CD) and illustrated by Mark Burgess. According to the Telegraph, the man in charge of Milne's estate has said the following:

We have been hoping for a good many years that we might one day be able to offer the world a sequel which would do justice to the original Winnie-the-Pooh stories.

We believe that David Benedictus and [illustrator] Mark Burgess have captured the spirit and quality of those original books.

We hope that the many millions of Pooh enthusiasts and readers around the world will embrace and cherish these new stories as if they had just emerged from the pen of A. A. Milne himself.

I hope that this new book will do the original Pooh books justice, as they are very good stories. Don't get me wrong, I love Disney and their depictions of Winnie the Pooh, but with their recent CG attempt at Winnie the Pooh with Christopher Robin being replaced with a girl is, quite frankly, terrible. I love the original series The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, but I don't think that anything will replace Milne's classic Winnie the Pooh stories.

The book is planned for release on October 5, 2009, setting it up for potentially lucrative Christmas sales.

Wednesday, January 14, 2009

Briefly: Rotten Tomatoes has recently released their 10th Annual Golden Tomatoes Awards winners. WALL-E won the best Animated Feature, and, the most prestigious award given out, the Best Wide Release movie (meaning that it was the best movie in the list of those awarded). It beat The Dark Knight which got 2nd place, Iron Man in 3rd place, Bolt in 8th place, and Tropic Thunder in 9th place.

Now all that's left for WALL-E, besides being the best animated feature at the Golden Globes, and earning $528,615,841 at the worldwide box office, among other awards, is the Academy Awards!

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

After Walt had established his studio and had already created several animated features, he decided to create some live-action nature videos. His studio continued production on Cinderella, Peter Pan, and Alice in Wonderland while, in the meantime, it began production of these nature films. It was the late 1940s and the wilderness movies included True-Life Adventures and, in 1948, On Seal Island.

Well, the Disney company has decided to revisit the nature genre with Disneynature. As defined by Disneynature.com, the new division of the studio is a "new label dedicated to working with leading filmmakers to produce one cutting-edge theatrical release each year celebrating the wonders of the world in which we live in."

The website (Disneynature.com) has some stunning videos and pictures that make me pretty excited for the upcoming Disneynature movie called earth (you can also find the trailer on the website). It will bring the moviegoers on a "truly global journey" told through the stories of three different mothers struggling to raise their children. The mothers and children are Arctic Polar Bears, Humpback Whales and Elephants. The movie will be released on April 22, 2009, but I am not sure where or how it will be released.

Monday, January 12, 2009

I just visited Disneyland for New Year's Eve. Despite the park being the most crowded I've ever seen it, the park has also experienced some recent additions (besides the Christmas decorations around the park and in several rides).

One of the new excting additions can be found in Disney's California Advenure. There is a new, small room next to the vinery called Blue Sky Imagineering. It is a room with dioramas, signs, information, and videos all about what the imagineers plan to do with DCA in the near future. Here are some pictures (They were all taken on the iPhone's low quality camera in less than desirable lighting, so I apologize for the picture quality):

The entrance to Blue Sky Imagineering

An introduction to the room that you see upon walking in the entrance.

A picture of Walt up on the wall, acknowledging that he is the great man that started everything.

An example of what DCA's "Main Street" will be like. (I can't wait!)

DCA's soon-to-come-true map.

Artists' Renditions of the new DCA.

Basically just what the room looks like.

A model of the red cars that will run up and down Buena Vista Street in Disney's California Adventure.

A model of the soon-to-be-renovated Paradise Pier with new shops and boardwalk games.

A model of the soon-to-be-renovated Paradise Pier with new shops and boardwalk games.

A model of the soon-to-be-renovated Paradise Pier with new shops and boardwalk games.A model of the soon-to-be-renovated Paradise Pier with new shops and boardwalk games.

A model of the soon-to-be-renovated Paradise Pier with new shops and boardwalk games.

A diorama of California Screamin' which will be renovated to fit the theme of California in the 1920s.

A diorama of California Screamin' which will be renovated to fit the theme of California in the 1920s.

A diorama of California Screamin' which will be renovated to fit the theme of California in the 1920s.

A diorama of California Screamin' which will be renovated to fit the theme of California in the 1920s.

A diorama of California Screamin' which will be renovated to fit the theme of California in the 1920s.

Artists' renderings of an upcoming attraction. It will be a renovation of the swings which currently reside in an orange. The swings will be themed as The Band Concert, the Silly Symphonies cartoon and riders will be conducted by Mickey Mouse as they get caught up in a storm.

Artists' renderings of an upcoming attraction. It will be a renovation of the swings which currently reside in an orange. The swings will be themed as The Band Concert, the Silly Symphonies cartoon and riders will be conducted by Mickey Mouse as they get caught up in a storm.

Artists' renderings of an upcoming attraction. It will be a renovation of the swings which currently reside in an orange. The swings will be themed as The Band Concert, the Silly Symphonies cartoon.

A close-up the previous image where an iPhone is cleverly hidden.

Artists' renderings of the upcoming dark ride attraction based on The Little Mermaid.

Artists' renderings of an upcoming attraction. It will be a renovation of the swings which currently reside in an orange. The swings will be themed as The Band Concert, the Silly Symphonies cartoon.

Artists' renderings of DCA's try at a Fantasmic. I personally dislike Fantasmic, but hopefully this light and fountain spectacle will be more impressive.

Artists' renderings of DCA's try at a Fantasmic. I personally dislike Fantasmic, but hopefully this light and fountain spectacle will be more impressive.

Artists' renderings of DCA's try at a Fantasmic. I personally dislike Fantasmic, but hopefully this light and fountain spectacle will be more impressive.

Some of the developmental materials for my favorite ride in California Adventure--Toy Story Midway Mania.

Some more artists' renderings of the renovated park in general and how it will look like California as it was in the 1920s.

Some more artists' renderings and a mention of a 12-acre Cars land which will be coming in 2012.

A neat desk-type set-up with interesting curios and a cartoon-like map of the new DCA.

A neat desk-type set-up with interesting curios and a cartoon-like map of the new DCA.

A neat desk-type set-up with interesting curios and a cartoon-like map of the new DCA.

A neat desk-type set-up with interesting curios and a cartoon-like map of the new DCA.

Some more artists' renderings of the renovated park in general and how it will look like California as it was in the 1920s.

Some more artists' renderings of the renovated park in general and how it will look like California as it was in the 1920s.

Some artistic renderings of what the new and improved boardwalk games will look like.

Some artistic renderings of what the new and improved boardwalk games will look like.

A neat desk-type set-up with interesting curios and a cartoon-like map of the new DCA.

A neat desk-type set-up with interesting curios and a cartoon-like map of the new DCA.

A close-up on one of the drawings found on the desk.

They have a little quiz you can take about the history of Disney in the 1920s, and this is one of the various screens you see during the course of play, but I found something very interesting and very exciting. Look at the logo near the top that is "engraved" in the metal. It is the WED logo for Walt Disney's first Imagineering division! (It stood for Walter Elias Disney) The name changed during Eisner's reign to Walt Disney Imagineering, but it appears that Lasseter may be bringing it back! One can only hope...

And there is even more news from Disneyland park in California! In Disneyland, a new addition is Sleeping Beauty's Castle Walkthrough. Here are some pictures I took while walking through the new attraction (these pictures were taken on an iPhone, so they are only 2.0 megapixels with less than desirable light). You walk up to an entrance on the side of the iconic castle, Then you walk through the story of Sleeping Beauty. It is told through a "storybook", lighting effects, models with forced perspective, and some of the Imagineers other fantastic techniques. Here are most of the items found in the walkthrough:

And there is Sleeping Beauty's Walkthrough! It is now open in Sleeping Beauty's Castle at Disneyland in California.

Well there's all of the new things happening at Disneyland and Disney's California Adventure.

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